Type of garden
A
sensory garden
is a self-contained
garden
area that allows visitors to enjoy a wide variety of sensory experiences.
[2]
Sensory gardens are designed to provide opportunities to stimulate the
senses
, both individually and in combination, in ways that users may not usually encounter.
[3]
Sensory gardens have a wide range of educational and recreational applications.
[2]
They can be used in the education of
special-needs
students, including
autistic
people.
[4]
As a form of
horticultural therapy
, they may act as
therapeutic gardens
to help in the care of people with
dementia
.
[5]
Sensory gardens can be designed in such a way as to be
accessible
and enjoyable for both
disabled
and non-disabled users. A sensory garden, for example, may contain features accessible to the disabled individual such as: scented and edible plants, sculptures and sculpted handrails, water features designed to make sound and play over the hands, textured touch-pads, magnifying-glass screens, braille and audio
induction loop
descriptions. Depending on the user group, other provisions may integrate sound and music more centrally to combine the play needs of younger users with their sensory needs.
Many sensory gardens devote themselves to providing experience for multiple senses; those specialising in scent are sometimes called
scented gardens
, those specialising in music/sound are sound gardens where the equipment doubles up to provides an enhanced opportunity for strategic developmental, learning and educational outcomes.
Sensory gardens usually have an enhanced infrastructure to permit
wheelchair access
and meet other accessibility concerns; the design and layout provides a stimulating journey through the senses, heightening awareness, and bringing positive learning experiences.
Design
[
edit
]
Sensory garden design is generally based around the five
Aristotelian senses
, but it can also include other senses such as
proprioception
and
balance
.
[6]
In addition to plants, non-living elements, such as
water features
and sculptures, may be incorporated.
[7]
Sight
[
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]
Sight components in a sensory garden include traditional garden elements like colorful plants and flowers, which are sometimes clustered together to assist people with vision impairments.
[8]
These plants can also be used to attract birds and butterflies to the garden, which can add additional sight variety.
[8]
Hearing
[
edit
]
Sound components in a sensory garden are often things that make sounds naturally in a breeze. This includes plants like bamboo, grasses, trees, as well as non-living elements like bells and
wind chimes
. Water features and birds are also common sound components.
Less common sound components include things like hand instruments (such as drums), echo spaces, and chiming stepping stones.
Sensory dementia gardens
[
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]
Sensory gardens can be designed specifically for people with
dementia
,
[9]
a condition that can affect different parts of the brain and many aspects of everyday life, including memory, in which everyday tasks such as walking or eating typically become difficult. Sensory or therapeutic gardens can be used to help reduce the symptoms of dementia
without the use of drugs
through stimulation of the senses, exercising various parts of the brain. Sensory gardens may elicit positive emotions in people living with dementia, and help improve their
quality of life
.
[5]
Design characteristics may include water features that produces soothing sounds, pick-and-sniff herb and flower beds, and benches with different types of sand or pebbles to sink their feet into. For example, in a sensory garden located in
Port Macquarie
, Australia, one person enjoys sinking his toes into the sand as it elicits memories of Australia for him, while the gravel reminds him of Scotland where he was born which he does not enjoy as much.
[9]
Other potential benefits include a calming and relaxing place providing an easy and safe way to exercise with feelings of independence.
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
This sensory garden was designed for children with
special needs
at
St Christopher's School
in
Westbury Park, Bristol
, England.
-
The
Blindengarten
in the
Bad Homburg
Spa Park (
Kurpark
) in Germany is a "smell and touch" garden comprising eight thematically planted raised beds (culinary herbs, medicinal herbs, roses, grasses, etc.) arranged around a central fountain that can provide acoustic orientation for blind and visually-impaired people.
[10]
-
An experiential feature in the "World of the Senses" (
Welt der Sinne
). The design of this extensive sensory garden and house in
Bremervorde
, Germany, was inspired by the ideas of
Hugo Kukelhaus
(1900?1984) regarding "fields of experience for the development of the senses" and is intended for use by everyone, regardless of disabilities.
[11]
-
This sensory garden inside the
Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden
, Brazil, is designed to sharpen the senses of touch and smell, and sometimes taste. Visitors with special needs, including the blind and visually impaired, are welcomed by a team of counselors (some of whom are themselves visually disabled). Blindfolded guided tours are also a feature.
[12]
-
Musical pipes can be played by visitors in the sensory garden at the
Building and Construction Authority
Gallery, Singapore, which showcases the broad accessibility principles of
Universal Design
.
[13]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"The Blind People's Garden of Bremen"
.
www.lesum.de
. Archived from
the original
on 12 September 2019.
- ^
a
b
"Sensory garden design advice 1. Sensory Trust"
.
www.sensorytrust.org.uk
. 21 February 2003
. Retrieved
15 June
2018
.
- ^
"Sensory Gardens - Gardening Solutions - University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences"
.
gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu
. Retrieved
2018-03-20
.
- ^
Hussein, H (December 2009).
"Sensory Garden in Special Schools: The Issues, Design and Use"
.
Journal of Design and Built Environment
.
5
(1): 77?95.
ISSN
2232-1500
. Retrieved
15 June
2018
.
- ^
a
b
Gonzalez MT, Kirkevold M (October 2014). "Benefits of sensory garden and horticultural activities in dementia care: a modified scoping review".
Journal of Clinical Nursing
.
23
(19?20): 2698?715.
doi
:
10.1111/jocn.12388
.
PMID
24128125
.
- ^
Winterbottom, Daniel; Wagonfeld, Amy (May 19, 2015).
Therapeutic Gardens: Design for Healing Spaces
. Timber Press. p. 227.
ISBN
9781604694420
. Retrieved
7 February
2020
.
- ^
Worden EC, Moore KA (2004).
"Sensory gardens"
.
EDIS
(2004, 8)
. Retrieved
2 December
2020
.
- ^
a
b
Fowler, Susan (2008).
Multisensory Rooms and Environments: Controlled Sensory Experiences for People with Profound and Multiple Disabilities
. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. p. 39.
ISBN
9781846428098
. Retrieved
7 February
2020
.
- ^
a
b
Mascarenhas, C (22 August 2017).
"First dementia garden in Australia opens"
.
ABC News
.
Archived
from the original on 23 August 2017.
- ^
"Kurpark"
.
www.bad-homburg-tourismus.de
. Bad Homburg Tourism.
Archived
from the original on 11 June 2020.
- ^
Burfeind, Iris.
"Hugo Kukelhaus"
.
www.parkdersinne-brv.de
(in German). Natur- und Erlebnispark Bremervorde GmbH.
Archived
from the original on 17 June 2018.
- ^
"Jardim Sensorial de portas abertas ? Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro"
.
jbrj.gov.br
(in Brazilian Portuguese). Governo do Brasil.
Archived
from the original on 17 June 2018.
- ^
Keung J (2015).
"No More Barriers: Promoting Universal Design in Singapore"
(PDF)
.
www.clc.gov.sg
. Urban Solutions. Issue 6: Active Mobility.
The Centre for Liveable Cities, Singapore
.